Most horror films are content to manufacture a single menace, concocting a spirit, demon, or monster to terrorize innocents, using the run time to expand on the motivation of the otherworldly antagonist. The Malaysian fright fest "23:59" somehow settles on at least five different directions of torment, allowing itself only 75 minutes to establish and figure out the design of doom. It's a messy, unconvincing picture emerging from a knowing place of experience, with monotonous barrack life in military service the setting for Gilbert Chan's effort, pouring his history with ghost stories and urban legends into a movie that should really only take on a single evil entity at a time. Overwhelmed and undercooked, "23:59" is earnestly acted, helping to ease obvious directorial discomfort, but there's too much going in this small-scale endeavor, which loses coherency the longer it engages in constant gear-shifting when approaching the formation of an engrossing paranormal villain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Mental" is mental, living up to the potential of its title with a wild, uninhibited display of psychological fractures and grotesque comedy. The picture marks the return of writer/director P.J. Hogan to the screen, who long ago helmed the cult hit "Muriel's Wedding" before embarking on a deflating Hollywood career that included "My Best Friend's Wedding," 2003's "Peter Pan," and "Confessions of a Shopaholic." Revisiting his Australian roots, Hogan summons a tidal wave of mischief and manic activity with "Mental," straddling a thin line between insanity and compassion. Hilarious but a tonal bucking bronco, the effort is perhaps best reserved for viewers in the mood for a runaway mine cart viewing experience, willing to absorb all the chaos Hogan happily provides. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If "About Cherry" actually contained a story concerning the leading lady known as Cherry, it would be a far more enlightening picture. Possibly even great. Instead, the movie is a drippy, incomplete effort from first-time director Stephen Elliot, who has a functional idea to drill deep inside the scattered mind of an aspiring adult film actress battling the desperate reality of her life, yet he lacks the concentration required to shape these acidic experiences into a cohesive tale of panty-dropping enlightenment. The feature is all over the place, spending valuable screen time with vague, feeble characters and implausible personal exchanges, resulting in a muddled, frustratingly inconsequential journey of a surprisingly unsympathetic character and her hazy ride to the slippery top of the porno food chain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Perhaps realizing they didn’t have the budget to indulge their western fantasies in full, filmmakers (and identical twins) Logan and Noah Miller take a route of peculiarity with “Sweet Vengeance,” making oddity, not expanse, the focus of the movie. The Millers make muscular choices in tone and humor here, shaping a curious picture that’s skilled at depicting sudden acts of violence, burning scenes of intimidation, and the emptiness of the southwest, creating an impressive but low-wattage effort that’s agreeably primitive in its design of good vs. evil -- though shadings of such moral assignment are always a little messy, keeping the material somewhere in the vicinity of sophistication as it delivers captivating six-gun basics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If I didn’t know better, I might’ve presumed that “Hammer of the Gods” was created by a team of 9th graders out to entertain themselves after learning a little about the history of the Vikings. Actually, that movie would likely be more fun and coherent than what’s found its way onscreen. Pointlessly graphic and absolutely ridiculous, “Hammer of the Gods” is a poorly attended LARP event crossed with basic cable fantasy filmmaking standards. It certainly endeavors to create a tempest of heaving testosterone with its population of bearded, shirtless men swinging rusty swords while growling, but the effort as a whole is excruciatingly unremarkable, with dreary tech credits and a cast taking performance cues from the local Renaissance Fair. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s tricky to make much sense out of “Compulsion,” which exists in its own world of fantasy and fixation. It’s a mixture of tones and manic behavior that often comes across confused, yet the film’s dedication to a screaming color palette and food fetishes is most enticing, making it a feast for the eyes and the stomach, yet coldly detached everywhere else. However, those with an interest in the extremes of obsessive cinema might get a kick or two out of what director Egidio Coccimiglio serves up here, studying the emphasis on domestic glamour and the decadence of exotic food preparation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Focusing on acts of intimidation and phone-based negotiation, and the Danish film “A Hijacking” offers more cinematic suspense than ten visual effect-laden blockbusters. Spare and serious, the picture is an outstanding effort exploring the rituals and anguish of life in captivity, communicated through brilliant performances of pure interior might and storytelling control that expertly draws out repetition as a form of tension. Writer/director Tobias Lindholm puts forth a masterful study of patience and terror, and while it asks the viewer to endure painful surges in hope and its inevitable depressive fallout, the reward is an opportunity to view a genuine, riveting human event onscreen. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There’s no reason why “Unfinished Song” (titled “Song for Marion” elsewhere) should work. It’s schmaltz with more than few derivative turns of plot, and it borders on being too corny for comfort. This is where casting is the utmost importance, with stars Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, and Gemma Arterton making the most of an impossible situation, infusing heart and soul into an otherwise artificial experience. Simplistic, but blessedly so, “Unfinished Song” is only out to warm up its audience, inducing tears and smiles as three actors keep the production palatable despite its serious lean toward a manipulative disaster. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

They are the spirit, the fire, and the wings of vocal performance. They are the backup singers, and the documentary “20 Feet from Stardom” is determined to make sure these unheralded talents finally get their due. Director Morgan Neville makes a convincing argument for glory, as mere moments with these women and their fierce personalities and golden throats induce chills, stepping into the presence of remarkable talent that’s routinely discounted by a fickle industry and even by the subjects themselves. Jubilant, informative, and teeming with iconic music, “20 Feet from Stardom” is a riveting sit, blasting a spotlight on singers worthy of the intense heat. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Over the course of its 80 year history, “The Lone Ranger” has seen numerous incarnations spread across the realms of television, radio, and cinema. He’s an evergreen character, a powerful figure of justice and honor, so it makes sense that producer Jerry Bruckheimer would labor to turn the masked man into a blockbuster franchise for contemporary audiences, as it’s been over 30 years since the last attempt to build a big screen franchise with these ingredients. However, this is no simple western; “The Lone Ranger” is monster-budget entertainment, complete with an overly elaborate plot, visual effects galore, and a pained sense of humor that only emerges from a production with too much to lose, fearful of coloring outside the lines. It’s noisy, intentionally ugly, and excruciatingly long (clocking in at 150 minutes). Serious hi-ho is missing from this leaden endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

That 2010’s “Despicable Me” turned out to be an enormous hit is a bit of a surprise. Perfectly pleasant but also unremarkable, the feature scratched a certain audience itch at the time, striking a distinct cartoon blow while introducing the world to the hyperactive comedy antics of the minions -- those miniature yellow slapstick machines that eventually made Universal Pictures a mint in merchandise sales. Well, the minions are back, along with Gru and his adoptive children, with “Despicable Me 2” perfectly content to replicate humor and spectacle for its adoring audience. However, with the lead character now playing for the good guys, certain changes have been made to the freshly-minted franchise, a few ideas that keep this sequel entertaining but never remarkable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although positioned as a blockbuster release in 1976, "Midway" is more of a unique experiment in war film construction. While budget considerations obviously factored into the decision, famed producer Walter Mirisch decided to use archival footage and scenes from other movies to help generate the necessary expanse to this World War II effort, mixing the modern with the past, introducing the feature with the proclamation: "This is the way it was." Well, technically, some of it wasn't, but that doesn't stop "Midway" from rolling forward as a movie primarily interested in naval stratagem, aiming for a balanced portrait of intelligence and instinct as the U.S. and Japan moved their animosity to the heart of the Pacific Ocean, treating the empty space as a chess board, embarking on a pivotal moment in WWII history. To hedge his bet, Mirisch hires an exceptional ensemble of famous faces who sink their teeth into the opportunity to play historical dress-up, keeping what's actually a very deliberate picture alert with well-oiled thespian confidence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com